In the future, stores and possibly even ATM machines will go the way of vein scanning rather than stick with traditional credit cards. Currently, there are more than 1,000 Swedish shoppers who've signed up to make payments with a simple swipe of their hand, using new technology that 'reads' the patterns of their veins. The company hopes that hand scanning will become an alternative payment method if it is a success during trials in the city of Lund in southern Sweden. To sign up, users have to visit terminal-equipped establishment, where they scan their palm three times and enter their social security and telephone numbers. Next, a text message is then sent to their mobile phone with an activation link to a website, with payments taken directly from customer's bank accounts twice a month. Continue reading for a video and more information.

Researcher Fredrik Leifland adds: "Every individual's vein pattern is completely unique, so there really is no way of committing fraud with this system. You always need your hand scanned for a payment to go through. We had to connect all the players ourselves, which was quite complex - the vein scanning terminals, the banks, the stores and the customers."